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Hive Dipping Tank

For those who are interested. Here are some pictures of my new Hot Dipping tank that I just used for the first time this weekend.
I used 50lbs. of gum rosin and 170lbs of Paraffin wax that was heated to 250 F. I dipped each part of the hive for about 10 minutes.
Click on the picture below and you can see all the different pictures of the tank and how I heated it.
It took several hours to melt the wax to get it all ready.

That was the only place I could find it, if you ask they will sell you 50 pound quanitys.

I dipped 3 complete hives top covers, inner covers, 2 supers, 2 large broad boxes, hive stand, and base.
It doesn't even go down. Once you buy everything you could dip 50 hives I think.
My purchase was 200 pounds of wax and 50 pounds of gum rosin.
I think I will be OK for the 5 or 10 years.

The tank is 23 inch X 19 inch X 20 inch deep.
If you make one make it about 26" deep, to give your self more boiling room.

I had a friend make it for me. I bought him a 6 pack of beer. hehe

Anyway I will be happy to give you guys more information if you need it.
I moved it inside tonight, it was still hot and liquid inside the center 24 hours later.
The gum rosin has a sweet smell to it.
I believe it to be pine sap gum rosin froom Argentia.

Tank

Thanks Bullseye Bill,
Yes it does have a bung weld in the bottom, so I could drain it if I every felt the need to. I just put a set screw in it so it would stick out. I will walking around this thing in the garage for years to come.
Also another good point you brought up, I should of mentioned.
This was done at a large manufacturing company that I work at weld by one of the best welders we have. One of the products made there are holding tanks, this does need to be done right. It is holding about 225 pounds of hot molten material that would be very dangerous if it started leaking. The open flame underneath would be bad news.
I have to say I never left this unattended the entire time.

But seriously, what guage metal/steel did you use? It looks like stainless until you painted (?) it. Could you get the mix heated to 250 degrees on that one tank of gas? You've got a really sharp looking cooker!

I check the metal thickness it appears to be 12 guage metal. It is made from just standard steel. I heat the mix up to about 280 degrees keeping a very careful eye on this, never leaving it alone. It takes about 2 hours to get it up to temp but after that it holds just fine. I boil each piece for about 15 minutes, you will actually be able to tell when it's finished you start getting a lot more foaming when it is completely cooked.

Make sure that there is no rain schedule for at least that day, or you will have a problem. Like putting water in a pan with bacon grease. Also I leave it sit outside allnight to cool. It will still be warm the next day, but hardens into a solid. Then I use a dolly to pick it up and put in my garage until the next time.
Also I use maybe a 1/2 tank of gas doing 20 hive bodys with the tops and bottom boards. Maybe less.

Here is a website that I was able to get some ideas from. Unfortunately it is not in English but pictures speak a thousand words. They have a really nice tank.http://www.vcelky.cz/fotobanka-23.htm
If you have anymore questions just let me know.
Bruce